NH 3 sensing property and mechanisms of quartz surface acoustic wave sensors deposited with SiO 2 , TiO 2 , and SiO 2 -TiO 2 composite films

Pristine SiO2, TiO2 and composite SiO2-TiO2 films of 200 nm thick were coated on surface of quartz acoustic wave (SAW) sensors with sol-gel and spin coating technique. Their performance and mechanisms for sensing NH3 were systematically investigated. Sensors made with the TiO2 and SiO2-TiO2 films showed positive frequency shifts, whereas SiO2 film exhibits a negative frequency shift to NH3 gas. it is believed that the negative frequency shift was mainly caused by the increase of NH3 mass loading on the sensitive film while the positive frequency shift was associated to the condensation of the hydroxyl groups (-OH) on the film making the film stiffer and lighter, when exposed to NH3 gas. It demonstrated that humidity played a significant factor on the sensing performance. Comparative studies exhibited that the sensor based on the composite SiO2-TiO2 film had a much better sensitivity to NH3 at a low concentration level (1 ppm) with a response of 2 KHz, and also showed fast response and recovery, excellent selectivity, stability and reproducibility.